The start of a new year is a good time to reassess your guitar playing and where you want to take it in the upcoming year. One of the best ways to improve guitar playing and to avoiding being stuck in a rut is to set goals.
There are 3 main types of goals short, medium and long term. Breaking up your goals into these types will make them more achievable and less overwhelming. Depending on your playing level and style of music you like to play your goals will vary greatly. For ideas of what your own guitar goals can be for 2014 check out these examples.
Short Term – 1 to 3 months
Beginners
- Learn to change smoothly between all the open string chords
- Learn single note technique by mastering 2-3 scales or simple riffs like 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes
- Be able to strum along in time with a recording of a simple song like Stand By Me or Knocking On Heavens Door.
Intermediate
- To be able to play bar chords cleanly and consistently. Work on a song with bar chord or two in it. An example would be Hotel California by the Eagles.
- Being able to master new techniques such as palm muting for metal (Enter Sandman by Metallica) or finger picking for folk/country (The A Team by Ed Sheeran)
- Learn an intermediate guitar solo such as the intro solo in Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
Advanced
- Learn new positions for chords using the CAGED chord system and apply them to songs. An example of this is the riff to Substitute by the Who which uses just the chords D G and A but avoids the regular chord shapes.
- Develop improvising with a new scale/mode such as the Mixolydian mode over the dominant 7th chord
- Learn a complex solo by players such as Van Halen, Satriani or Wes Montgomery
Medium Term – 3 to 6 months
Beginners
- Develop a repertoire of 5-10 songs that you can play all the way through either by yourself or with the recordings. Songs ideas include Hey Jude, Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Brown Eyed Girl, Bad Moon Rising
- Learn the notes on the neck up to fret 5. This can be done by learning to read or playing scales while naming the notes.
- Work on songs that incorporate techniques such as arpeggios and melodies with chord strumming. Examples would by Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (arpeggios and strumming) and Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones (riff and chords)
Intermediate
- Develop new strumming rhythms and styles using muted strums such as funk and reggae
- Learn the minor pentatonic scale and how to improvise with the 12 bar blues
- Learn a solo or more complicated song note for note such as Purple Haze or Day Tripper
Advanced
- Write your own songs or solos incorporating challenging chord changes, rhythm and scale changes
- Memorize and record yourself playing 3-4 challenging songs. If you’re feeling confident in your playing you can even film yourself and upload it to YouTube
Long Term – 6 to 12 months
Beginner
- Learn how to sing and play simple songs at the same time. Choose a song with simple words and melody such as Knocking On Heavens Door
- Play a song incorporating more difficult elements such as the F chord and arpeggios. House of The Rising Sun is a great tune to learn as it contains both these elements.
Intermediate
- Learn to play a more complicated technique such as Travis Picking if you’re into folk/country music (Country Roads by John Denver) or sweep picking (Yngwie Malmsteen) if you’re into shred guitar or metal.
- Memorize 10 songs from start to finish including the solos such as Sweet Home Alabama, Whole Lotta Love, Smoke On The Water, All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
- Get your sight reading up to a level where you can read melodies at 100bpm with no mistakes. Jazz standards such as Summertime or Autumn Leaves are good examples of this reading level.
Advanced
- Be able to improvise over chord changes at a medium to fast speed while outlining the harmony with arpeggios. Jazz tunes such as Billies Bounce or Blues For Alice are good examples.
- Transcribe solos by advanced players such as Van Halen, Steve Via or Frank Gambale
- Be able to play chord melody solo guitar like Martin Taylor, Chet Atkins or Tommy Emmanuel.
These ideas are all about developing your guitar skills and technique. Other general music goals to consider maybe to join a band, perform live at an open mike night or play at a local blues or jazz jam. These larger goals will motivate you to work on the smaller technique goals that will be necessary if you want to play live or with other musicians.
Whatever you’re guitar goals maybe for 2014 good luck and please comment below letting me know what you want to achieve on guitar this year.